It's another tough week for running backs as Fantasy owners continue to look for their best bets. Nathan Zegura offers his top starts and sits for Week 12 to make things a little easier.

The bye weeks are over and you will have your full roster at your
disposal as you make a push for the Fantasy playoffs. Unfortunately it
seems like as the bye weeks end, the injuries are mounting so you may
still have some less-than-ideal decisions to make.

Here are five to start and five to sit as well as some favorable and
unfavorable matchups to exploit to bring you a win in Week 12. Happy
Thanksgiving, enjoy your turkey and may your players provide all of the
stuffing you need in the stat sheets.

Get 'em active ...

Andrew Luck
, QB, Colts (vs. BUF)Current own/start %:
99/55I'd start him over:
Robert Griffin III
(at DAL),
Matt Schaub
(at DET),
Carson Palmer
(at CIN) In Week
11,
Andrew Luck
had his best passing
game yet on the road, with 334 yards and two touchdowns against the New
England Patriots. His Fantasy totals were undone by four turnovers in
that game, but he should have no such issues at home against the Buffalo
Bills. The Bills have just two interceptions and no quarterback fumbles
in their last four games combined and Luck is a beast at home. In his
five home games, Luck has accounted for 11 touchdowns and has thrown
only two interceptions. It is no wonder that Luck has produced an
average of 25.6 points per game at home this year and has never been
below 18 points in a single game. Luck now has multiple touchdowns in
seven of his last nine games and has thrown for 280 or more yards on
eight occasions as well. The Bills are giving up 20.6 points per game to
quarterbacks this year, eight most in the NFL despite only facing a
legit quarterback in three games total all year. In those three games,
Tom Brady
(twice) and
Matt Schaub
combined for eight touchdowns and averaged just under 27 Fantasy points
per game. Look for Luck to have the big numbers without the turnovers
this week and he will be a solid Top 12 option.

Andy Dalton
, QB, Bengals (vs. OAK)Current own/start %:
96/48I'd start him over:
Cam Newton
(at PHI),
Tony Romo
(vs. WAS),
Matthew Stafford
(vs. HOU) Did you know that
Andy Dalton
has six games with three or more total touchdowns and
has produced at least 25 Fantasy points in all of them. Dalton has a 60
percent big game rate this year, tied for fourth among all quarterbacks
behind only
Tom Brady
,
Drew Brees
and
Peyton Manning
. The
Red Rifle can flat out ball and also has four games of 30 or more points
to his credit in 2012. It certainly helps to have a wide receiver like
A.J. Green on your side as Green has caught a touchdown pass in a
remarkable nine straight games. This should be Dalton's seventh big game
and Green's 10th straight with a score as the Bengals host the
horrendous Oakland Raiders in Week 12. The Raiders have allowed an
average of 28 Fantasy points per game to opposing quarterbacks over the
last three weeks. During those games, they have surrendered nine total
quarterback touchdowns and even allowed
Joe Flacco
to lead all players in Fantasy points in Week 10. Yep,
in their last road game the Raiders let Flacco throw for 341 yards and
three touchdowns while he ran in another score. Oakland has given up at
least 38 points in three straight games and
Andy Dalton
should feast on an overmatched secondary that gets no
help from a non-existent pass rush.

BenJarvus Green-Ellis
, RB, Bengals (vs. OAK)Current
own/start %: 99/78I'd start him over:
Ryan Mathews
(vs. BAL),
Shonn Greene
(vs. NE),
Felix Jones
(vs. WAS) It was
tough to endorse
BenJarvus Green-Ellis
last week, but it worked out against the Kansas City Chiefs and I am
going back to the well with him this week. After all, The Law Firm will
get to run wild on the Oakland Raiders in Week 12 and that is really all
the reason you should need to start him. The Raiders have allowed seven
rushing touchdowns in their last three games alone and are giving up an
average of 31 Fantasy points per game to running backs during that span.
Opposing runners are averaging 5.9 yards per carry over the last three
games and have also added a healthy 46 yards per game catching passes
out of the backfield as well. Now Green-Ellis is not going to catch many
passes, but he should have a good shot to score against the Raiders this
week because every runner with at least 12 carries has scored against
Oakland this season. Last week it was
Mark Ingram
,
who ran 12 times for 67 yards and a touchdown and if you add up Ingram
and
Chris Ivory
, they would have run 20
times for 104 yards and a touchdown against the Raiders in Week 11. That
is exactly what Green-Ellis could do this week and I can't believe I am
saying it, but it is very likely he will have 100 yards rushing with a
touchdown for the second straight week.

Danario Alexander
, WR, Chargers (vs. BAL)Current
own/start %: 59/34I'd start him over:
Danny Amendola
(at ARI),
James Jones
(at NYG),
Mike Wallace
(at CLE) No
receiver has stepped into a new situation and become an immediate
difference maker like
Danario Alexander
in 2012.
Robert Meachem
could not cut
the mustard and has been sent to the bench for Alexander, who possesses
a similar size, speed combination to
Vincent Jackson
. His production over the last three weeks has been
nothing short of spectacular as Alexander has a grand total of 15
catches for 291 yards and three scores on just 21 targets. Alexander is
averaging 19.4 yards per catch as well as 13.6 yards and 2.23 points per
target in his early remarkable run. With the Baltimore Ravens bringing
an injured secondary to town in Week 12, I expect Alexander to find the
end zone for the third straight week. In Baltimore's last three games
against solid passing attacks (Dallas, Houston and Oakland), the Ravens
have allowed five wide receiver touchdowns and given up an average of 27
points per game to the position. Alexander is hot and leads the team in
targets over the last three weeks, which is good because the opposing
top target in those three highlighted games averaged 14 points against
the Ravens and Alexander has that kind of potential this week.

Dustin Keller
, TE, Jets (vs. NE) Current own/start %:
58/32I'd start him over:
Kyle Rudolph
(at CHI),
Brandon Pettigrew
(vs. HOU),
Heath Miller
(at CLE) Keller has been in a bit of a slump, but that
will change in Week 12 when he takes on the New England Patriots. In his
first meeting with the Pats, Keller caught all seven of his targets for
93 yards and a touchdown and if the Jets hope to keep pace in Week 12,
they will need a similar performance. There is a very good chance that
Keller can repeat those totals this week because the Patriots have had a
very tough time slowing down opposing tight ends. For the year, the
Patriots are allowing 9.4 Fantasy points per game to the position,
fourth most in the NFL. They are giving up an average of 6.2 catches
(second most) and 66.4 yards per game (third most) to tight ends and
recently, it has been even worse. In the last four games, the Patriots
have allowed seven catches, 77.25 yards, 0.5 touchdowns and 10.25 points
per game. Only one tight end group all year has been below six Fantasy
points and only two have failed to produce more than 60 yards. The Jets
will need to throw the ball a lot this week and Keller should be the
seventh tight end in the last nine games to finish in the Top 12 for the
week against the Patriots.

Eli Manning
, QB, Giants (vs. GB) Current own/start %:
99/25I'd rather start:
Andy Dalton
(vs. OAK),
Tony Romo
(vs. WAS),
Colin Kaepernick
(at NO) I truly believe that
Eli Manning
will be a solid starting quarterback for the rest of
the 2012 season, but I want to see it before I get him into my lineups.
If you do not have any other options this week, I think you can get a
solid 18 points from Eli, but with all 32 teams in action, I do not
think that Eli will be a Top 12 quarterback. He has not thrown a
touchdown pass in three straight games and has only two touchdown passes
with six interceptions in his last five games. Eli has been held under
220 yards passing in four of those five games and he is averaging only
5.6 Fantasy points per game during that span. Believe it or not, but Eli
has topped 20 Fantasy points in only three games all season long, so he
has not been the consistent Fantasy performer that he was a year ago.
Getting a healthy
Hakeem Nicks
back
should help, but I want to see Eli deliver before I trust him two weeks
before my Fantasy playoffs. After all, the Green Bay Packers are a
surprisingly solid pass defense. They have not allowed multiple passing
touchdowns or a 20-point quarterback in five straight games.
Andrew Luck
and
Drew Brees
are the
only quarterbacks to produce 20 points against Green Bay in the last
nine games and over the last five games, Green Bay is allowing just 12.6
points per game to quarterbacks. The matchup is not nearly as enticing
as it sounds and Eli needs to bust out of his slump or show some signs
of life before I start him at this point of the season.

Michael Turner
, RB, Falcons (at TB) Current
own/start %: 100/64I'd rather start:
BenJarvus Green-Ellis
(vs. OAK),
Fred Jackson
(at IND),
Steven Jackson
(at ARI) The
Burner snuck in a touchdown in Week 11 to cover up another ugly 45-yard
rushing performance against the Arizona Cardinals. Turner has now been
held under 60 yards rushing in four of his last five games and has been
below 50 yards in three of those games. He has just two touchdowns
during that span and is averaging only seven points per game. This week
he takes on the Tampa Bay Buccaneers who allow a league low 70.7 yards
per game to running backs on just 3.6 yards per carry (third lowest). In
fact, four of the last six teams to face the Bucs have averaged 3.2
yards per carry or less against Tampa, which is right in Turner's
wheelhouse. Since Week 6, only
Adrian Peterson
has run for more than 55 yards against the Bucs and that also sounds
like it is right up Turner's alley. Sure he could fall in the end zone a
la
Jonathan Stewart
last week and give
you 10 points, but keep in mind that only two runners in the last six
games have produced 10 Fantasy points based on their rushing totals
alone. I am not taking that risk with Turner if I can avoid it, so I am
sitting him down this week.

Reggie Bush
, RB, Dolphins (vs. SEA) Current
own/start %: 99/61I'd rather start:
Ronnie Hillman
(at KC),
Andre Brown
(vs. GB),
Jalen Parmele
(vs. TEN) I am
done with
Reggie Bush
and you should be
too. I did not like him before the season and after his 10 carries for
20 yards against Buffalo, I like him even less. Bush has been held to
five or fewer Fantasy points in four of his last five games and has been
limited to 21 or fewer rushing yards in three of those games, including
each of the last two. In fact, Bush has not rushed for 60 yards in a
game since Week 4 and he has rushed for 70 yards only once all year
long. He is sharing carries with
Daniel Thomas
and has not even produced 75 total yards in a game since Week 2. Without
a touchdown he has no chance at 10 points and with the Seattle Seahawks
coming to town, I am putting Bush on the far end of the bench. Since
Week 3, only
Adrian Peterson
has scored
against this Seattle defense and we all know that Reggie is not even a
poor man's AP. Add in the fact that only
Frank Gore
and AP have rushed for 60 yards against this defense and
it is clear that all you need to do is change the last letter of
Reggie's last name from Bush to bust for Week 12.

Mikel Leshoure
, RB, Lions (vs. HOU) Current
own/start %: 99/59I'd rather start:
Mikel Leshoure
has not produced a receiving point in four straight
games, so he will need to rely on his rushing totals for production in
Week 12. He is coming off of a very impressive 84 yards and a touchdown
against the Green Bay Packers, but the funny thing about Leshoure is
that he has not been able to string good games together back to back.
Every time Leshoure has scored or produced 10 Fantasy points, he has
followed that game up with four or fewer points in the next game. He
could be headed for another turkey this week when the Lions host the
Houston Texans on Thanksgiving. The Texans have not allowed a running
back rushing touchdown all year and they surrender just 9.2 Fantasy
points per game to running backs, fewest in the NFL. The Texans are the
only team to allow less than 10 points per games to running backs and no
running back has even produced 10 Fantasy points against them in six
straight games. In fact, only two running backs have topped 50 yards
rushing during that span and none have produced more than 80 yards on
the ground, which is impressive considering Houston faced
Ray Rice
,
Matt Forte
,
C.J. Spiller
and
Fred Jackson
amongst others during that span. After playing a game that was way too
close against the Jacksonville Jaguars, I expect the Texans to make a
statement in Week 12 and I would keep Leshoure reserved on Thanksgiving.

Brandon Lloyd
, WR, Patriots (at NYJ) Current
own/start %: 100/41I'd rather start:
Brandon Lloyd
has a grand total of 124 receiving yards in his last four
games, which is a whopping 31 yards per game in the New England offense.
Lloyd has been held under 51 yards receiving now in six of his last
seven games and has just three games of 10 or more Fantasy points all
season long. The worst of his disappointing performances came in Week 7
against these same New York Jets, when
Antonio Cromartie
held Lloyd to just one catch for six yards on eight
targets. Since that game, Lloyd has not seen eight targets in any game
and I would think that
Tom Brady
has
become frustrated with Lloyd's awful 4.96 yards per target over the last
month. With
Rob Gronkowski
out, Lloyd
will be asked to pick up the slack in the vertical passing game, but I
do not think he is up to the task. Lloyd has just four catches on 20 or
more yards all year, none of 30 yards and none in the last four games
and that was with defenses paying a ton of attention to Gronk. Cromartie
may be the toughest cover in the NFL right now, allowing only one
receiver,
Sidney Rice
, to top 10 points
against him in the last seven games and Rice needed to score on a wide
receiver pass gimmick play to get there. In this span, no other receiver
has topped six Fantasy points against Cromartie and
Michael Crabtree
,
Reggie Wayne
,
Andre Johnson
, Lloyd and
Brian Hartline
have combined for just 12 Fantasy points total against AC. Lloyd has a
great name and plays in a great offense, but his production has been
horrendous and I am not confident that will change this week.